A lengthy story, but I think you’ll like it.
I have a FishCat 8 pontoon boat. More accurately, the pontoon boat belongs to my buddy, Bill, however Bill doesn’t have a car. Last year, when I asked to borrow his boat for our annual lads fishing trip to Hihium Lake, Bill let me use it and graciously allowed me to store it at my house and keep using it. Agreed!
This year’s trip to Hihium was problematic. Somewhere between Abbotsford and Hihium, half of the pontoon frame, and a couple other items, somehow bounced out of the trailer that we towing. We re-traced part of our trip, and I posted on several websites, including this one, but the frame was not recovered. It didn’t affect my trip significantly as I was able to borrow a tinnie from the camp to fish with. However I felt horrible, because, you know, the pontoon wasn’t mine...
Later in the summer I contacted Outcast to see what it would cost to purchase a replacement frame, or better yet, just part of one. Mike from Outcast was very helpful, however, unfortunately, Outcast no longer makes Fish Cat 8s and had no spare frames available. He could, though, sell me a Streamer frame for $165 plus shipping. Ouch…
Now that I knew what the cost would be to purchase a replacement, I emailed Mike on Tuesday, August 27, thanked him for his help, and said that I would look around Craigslist and fishing websites to see what I could find. The next day, Mike emails back, “No problem”
Just two days later, on Friday Aug 30, I get an email from Mike “Here you go! Maybe you can strike a deal up with her?”, he writes. Attached was an email from a woman named Cathy who lives in north central Oregon. In her email, Cathy said that her husband passed away about 4 years ago, and he had a Fish Cat 8 pontoon boat. The boat had been sitting out in the back yard, and a year or so after his death, she figured that the pontoons were no good so she tossed them, however still had the frame, seat, and oars. Her question to Mike was is the frame worth saving if someone wanted to buy the pontoons, or should this frame just go to the transfer station for metal recycling?
I was stunned and emailed Cathy right away! I expressed condolences for her loss, explained my situation, how I had come to contact Mike and why he forwarded her email to me, and inquired if we could work something out. Cathy replied right away, and yes, she was very open to it. She didn’t want anything for it; she was just glad to get rid of it.
I asked about her husband. Dave was a minister, and a flyfisherman. At age 58 he was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer and passed away quickly, and too soon. She joked that he was never successful teaching her to fish, and she was never successful teaching him to ride horses.
After several more emails, we arranged to meet. As it turned out, our family was planning a Thanksgiving trip to Portland, so on the Saturday morning my son and I drove down to Albany, OR to meet Cathy. We loaded the frame in my vehicle and then had a visit while she told me more about Dave. I gave her a hug and we parted ways. A few weeks ago I assembled the frame on my pontoons and sent her a picture. She was thrilled, said it brought a smile to her face, and asked for another picture next summer with some of the fish that I’ve caught with it.
It’s so cool how it all worked out. I got a replacement frame for my buddy Bill’s boat, and I think it provides Cathy a measure of comfort to know that her husband’s frame has a new life up in Canada.
Some may call it a great coincidence that she emailed Mike at Outcast just 2-3 days after I last email him. But given that Dave was a man of God, and I’m a similar sort, I gotta wonder if there is something more at play here.
At any rate, whatever your world view, it’s still a pretty cool story. Cheers.
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Topic: A Fish Cat 8 frame is welcomed to Canada (Read 3463 times)